Ichigo Kurosaki (Ash)
( , ) | birthplace = | birthday = July 15 | age = | gender = Male | height = 181cm (5'11") | weight = 66kg (145 lbs.) | measurements = | affiliation = , , , | previous affiliation = , | profession = Heavenly Ambassador | previous profession = Substitute Shinigami | division = | previous division = | partner = | previous partner = | base of operations = | relatives = (Father) (Mother; Deceased) (Sister) (Sister) | education = | shikai = Zangetsu | bankai = To Be Revealed | roleplay debut = | series debut = | english voice = | japanese voice = }} Ichigo Kurosaki (黒崎 一護, Kurosaki Ichigo) is a with and powers. He is the son of and and the older brother of and . He was formerly the of . However, following the , the losses suffered by the lead them to plead for his permanent residency in the . Nevertheless, he maintains his connections with the . Following his training to unlock the full potential of his prowess, Ichigo was elevated to the status of the 's Heavenly Ambassador (天大使, Tendaishi). He has been tasked to both supervise the restoration of the spiritual realms and act as the liaison between the Royal Guard and the Gotei 13, thereby playing a crucial role in the world of spirits. Appearance Ichigo's most distinguishing feature is his spiky orange hair, a trait he has been ridiculed about for years on end. He is a fairly tall, lean-built young man with peach skin and brown eyes. He likes to wear tight clothes. He has a tendency to wear shirts patterned with the number 15 because his name is a homonym for the number. Since becoming a Shinigami, he has become noticeably more muscular, as noted by his sister Karin. When in his spiritual form, Ichigo wears the standard Shinigami attire, with the addition of a strap across his chest. Initially, it was a thick brown belt to hold his Zanpakutō sheath, but it later became a red rosary-like strap. It is shaped like a kite with a flat top and bottom. Ichigo's appearance has caused several people, including Jūshirō Ukitake, to note a similarity to , the former lieutenant of the 13th Division. After training in the Dangai, Ichigo's hair grows considerably, and he is noticeably taller, as stated by his friends. After Ichigo loses his Shinigami powers, his appearance reverts to the way it was before his Dangai training. Seventeen months after defeating Aizen, Ichigo's overall appearance does not change, but he becomes taller and grows sideburns. After regaining his powers, Ichigo's Shinigami attire consists of a thicker strap across his chest. He has four black vertical lines on his forearms and black, tattoo-like bands crossing over his chest, wrists, and ankles. Similar bands, but with white ends, lie around his neck as collars. After training at the Soul King Palace, Ichigo wears his standard black shihakushō, but with some notable changes: he has two white shoulder plates crossing his chest in an X shape that hold his Shikai blades in place, with the plate on his left shoulder having three sections adorned with red scales, and a white cloak with black markings tied around his waist. Personality regarding Ichigo's resolve.}} History Synopsis Powers and Abilities frightened over Ichigo's power.}} Ichigo Kurosaki, despite his standing as a , is a being in possession of such colossal power and talent that the and alike viewed him as an extremely crucial factor in order to win the conflict that spanned the spiritual realms, to the point where his reemergence in the conflict upturned the scale to the 's favor.Bleach Manga; He is viewed as a being with such extraordinary "latent ability" (潜在能力, senzai nōryoku) that he was placed atop a list that constituted individuals with centuries under their belt, such as and .Bleach Manga; Certainly, even with the majority of his power being , Ichigo had reached a plateau that enabled him to overcome beings as powerful as even when under the influence of .Bleach Manga; In fact, it is only now, after nurturing his vast potential, that Ichigo possesses the foundation required to become one of the most powerful beings within history. : *' ': *' ' (霊覚, Spiritual Sense): *' ': "Latent Ability" (潜在能力, Senzai Nōryoku): Enhanced Strength: Enhanced Durability: Immense Endurance: Hakuda Master: While by no means his forté, Ichigo has been competent with modern since he was a child due to professional training and repeated "refreshers" by his . In terms of standing, he is considered to be a better martial artist than , despite the latter being the second strongest girl in all of Japan while fighting with a broken arm. Ichigo's offensive Hakuda use relies on simple punches and kicks that are bolstered with his incredible strength and agility to overwhelm an enemy. With the addition of his spiritual body's strength, Ichigo can seamlessly knock out weaker opponents with a single strike influenced through the unconscious projection of his reiatsu, as he did against , and . In fact, by the time he returns from his preliminary training with the , it took him but a few moments to throw four to separate towers with virtually no effort. Despite Ichigo possessing a strong offensive front in Hakuda, given that his Zanjutsu acts as his primary offense, Ichigo's Hakuda orients itself around counterattacks and grappling maneuvers. To this end, Ichigo is noted to be quite skilled in the use of " " (捕手, catching hand), regularly making use of his free hand to catch oncoming attacks and, in some cases, throw them back with even greater force.Bleach Manga; Since his training with , a notable master of Hakuda, Ichigo has since increased his skills of the spiritual nature. Although incapable of the , Ichibē taught Ichigo to use the base concept of the within his martial arts. Having mastered this idea, Ichigo can willingly cause an explosive increase in the power of his strikes to the point where — from an outsider's perspective — Ichigo's body is often considered to be "Getsuga", although the nature of his strikes haven't reached that level of power or refinement. In addition to increasing his offensive power, Ichigo makes use of the same reiatsu theory in his defense, thus enabling him to catch spiritually empowered weaponry or attacks simply through cancelling out the reiatsu that exists in the said attack, which enables him to quickly negate all but the most powerful — or controlled — assaults against his being. : Ichigo is noted for his skillful speed, which heavily contributes to his prowess in combat. Even without the support of standard Hohō abilities, Ichigo manages to evade attacks of varying scales with his keen insight and reflexes. His most notable trait is to adapt to the speed of much faster enemies after witnessing them fight only a single time, as proven repeatedly against his various enemies, although most prominently when he managed to adapt to the speed of 's swordsmanship at his base power level, when he previously was incapable of outrunning the Espada even with a head-start. Likewise, his reflexes are sharp enough to counter a punch from and injure the Royal Guardsman without anyone noticing, despite the latter outpacing . Upon gaining the ability to use Shunpo, Ichigo's speed as a Shinigami skyrocketed. He managed to take care of three Lieutenant-level enemies almost instantly and subsequently reacted to Byakuya moving towards him, something the Captain complimented him for. By the time he returned from his preliminary training with the Royal Guard in the conflict against the , his speed had shot up to the point where he unintentionally caused the destruction of a building by landing too hard, before immediately bypassing the senses of four so he could talk to . Later, he even avoided a point-blank bullet from with little effort, before mounting his own counterattack. Following his training, Ichigo's Hohō has vastly improved due to the refinement of his reiatsu control, to the point where the fluidity of his movement has been compared to , an attribute Tenjirō specifically cultivated in order to better make use of Ichigo's nearly limitless power. Moreover, by condensing his exerted reiatsu tightly around his body — a homage to his previous Bankai — Ichigo can reach the same hyper-speeds he used to while employing Tensa Zangetsu. This enables him to create numerous afterimages that he can use to overwhelm an enemy's sensory perception. In a similar vein to his Hakuda, Ichigo has also been applying the concept of Getsuga Tenshō to his Hohō. He can exert powerful streams of reiatsu from his feet that resemble jet streams, which have the effect of boosting both his speed while simultaneously causing injury to anyone making contact with the said reiatsu. From further training with , Ichigo has shown the ability to sacrifice the quantity of his afterimages in favor of creating a smaller number of more realistic clones. These afterimages are densely packed with powerful reiatsu either exerted from Ichigo's being or from lingering energy released through Getsuga Tenshō which can easily cause notable injuries to an unsuspecting enemy. Zanjutsu Master Ichigo is an anomaly among most spiritual hybrids in that all of his latent racial attributes and associated spiritual abilities only manifested upon being given a medium: that medium is his .Bleach Manga; Due to the interference of his heritage, his dormant powers would not be capable of surfacing.Bleach Manga; This is particularly relevant given that Ichigo often relied on Zangetsu rather than his own power, causing the spirit to describe that fragment as brittle.Bleach Manga; As a result, Ichigo's true Shinigami abilities — expressed as — would inevitably be the catalyst for his sudden spikes of growth throughout his ventures, the most prominent example being the growth experienced from his battles against Bleach Manga; and .Bleach Manga; Through the acceptance of both facets of himself, Ichigo has abandoned the acquisition of power from external sources, instead completely relying on his own strength to achieve victory over any conflict.Bleach Manga; : Kōan Ichi-ryū (光暗一流, Light and Dark as One Style): "Nanashi Getsuga" (名無し月牙, Nameless Moon Fang): Kyōshin (鏡心, "Mirror Heart") Blood for Bone Blood for Bone (骨髄の為に血継, Kotsuzui no tame ni Kekkei; Literally meaning "Bloodline for my True Spirit"), authentically named by as Chiburui (血振るい, Shaking off the Blood) Zanpakutō Zangetsu (斬月, Slaying Moon) is the name of Ichigo's zanpakutō. However, for his initial tenure as a Substitute Shinigami, Zangetsu was no more than a nameless sword granted to him by the power transferred by . Despite its massive size, it was ultimately brittle and shattered when confronted him for the first time. After acquiring the true nature of his Shinigami powers with , the cleaver-like blade that was known as Zangetsu was also nothing more than an imitation. It couldn't have been classified as a Zanpakutō because it had no true as a basis. The within him had quickly suppressed the power that should have been his, and thus forced him to utilize as a method of heightening his power, even though it should have been completely unnecessary. The events of the and his encounter with the lead to the truth of his power being revealed. In a twist of irony, the being he believed to be his ultimate nemesis — the embodiment of his powers — were in fact the true source of his Shinigami abilities. The being he believed to be Zangetsu? No more than the manifestation of an within his soul. Both of these powers had their own wills, but when boiled down to it, they were ultimately simple branches of the individual known as Ichigo Kurosaki. And so, Ichigo accepted the entirety of himself, thus realizing the true power of his Zanpakutō — his own power. *' ': After finally coming in possession of an actual , Ichigo's Zanpakutō is now constituent of two distinct Souls, thus taking the appearance of two, purely black blades. One is the size of his previous sword, once again in the shape of a khyber knife, with the grip at the base of the blade and a handle extending back from this about roughly the width and length of Ichigo's forearm. There is a thin, hollowed-out portion running along the back edge of the blade from the base to the middle of the blade. The second blade is relatively small, about the size of Ichigo's arm, and is similar to the first blade, but resembles a trench knife more than a sword. Unlike its counterpart, it has an enclosed handle, with a portion acting like a hand guard. Both blades represent a different facet of Ichigo's powers: the larger blade represents his inner Hollow (the manifestation of his Shinigami/Hollow powers) and the smaller blade represents "the old man" (the manifestation of his Quincy powers). After gaining his new Zanpakutō, Ichigo wraps the hilts of both swords in cloth, and now carries the larger blade on his back and the shorter blade on his right hip. :Shikai Special Ability: In the technical sense, Zangetsu is primarily utilized for melee combat and thus can be classified as a Melee-Type. However, given recent events regarding his racial status, Ichigo's Zanpakutō ability was later named by Ichibē as the "Latent Type." This name was specifically granted due to it being capable of bringing about Ichigo's latent Quincy and Hollow abilities, respectively. :*' ' (月牙天衝, Moon Fang Heaven-Piercer; "Piercer of Heaven" in the English anime): ::*'"Shiroi Getsuga"' (白い月牙, White Getsuga): ::*'"Kuroi Getsuga"' (黒い月牙, Black Getsuga): ::*' ' (月牙十字衝, Moon Fang Cross-Shaped Piercer): *' ': Not Yet Revealed Trivia *Ichigo's title is often skewed by Seireitou Kawahiru, who regularly refers to him as "Sir Heaven's Gopher" (天のゴーファ殿, Ten'no Gōfa-dono), much to Ichigo's chagrin. Quotes Behind the Scenes References Category:Males Category:Quincy Category:Human Category:Canon to Fanon